Alumni Interview?

[Lafalum84]

<p>Yes roderick, but the fact remains I don’t know of any colleges (Laf in particular, but any others either) who put much emphasis at all on the results of an alumni interview. The most important thing seems to be to DO the interview and show interest. Then the interviewer can provide info to fill in things about the applicant that don’t show up on the application.</p>

<p>Another alumni interviewer (laxtaxi) on that thread filled in what alumni interviews are supposed to be about even better than I did above:

I do alumni interviews for my college. I usually make it clear that, even if I wanted to make a difference in their chances for admission, I can’t. I explain that I’m there to find out if there is information I can add to their application that might not have fit into the narrow confines of the application process, or that perhaps they might have overlooked that I can draw out of them and then share with the admissions committee. I also tell them I am there to answer questions about the school, and I also “warn” them that I love the school so they should expect my answers will be biased. I have learned, over time, that this approach tends to relax the interviewee and I get more insight and information from them that I can share with the admissions committee. Very often I learn information from the student that they didn’t think was worthy of mentioning but I think is a really interesting and helpful twist on their application. As to whether my input matters, who knows…

</p>

<p>The “disastrous” interview described in that thread is way out of the norm, IMHO, and most people seem to agree that that interviewer should be reported to his/her admissions office. I told the parent that since they were an alumni of that college themselves that they should call in that capacity to report it - this person is not representing the school well and they WILL want to know that.</p>

<p>At least in Lafayette’s case I do not believe an alumni interview could hurt. Turning down the opportunity for one, however, could definitely be construed as a lack of serious interest in the college.</p>

<p>Again, don’t overlook the additional chance for the applicant to ask questions of the interviewer and get some more answers (if your AAR is young, and graduated only a few years ago, you can get a lot of insights into the college. Or if your interviewer is like me and has a child who is currently a student at the college, you can also get some good insights into life on campus).</p>